178 SALMONIA. 



I have yet played with. See how high he 

 leaps ! He is making for the sea. 



Hal. — Hold him tight, or you will lose 

 him. 



PoiET. — Fear me not. I trust, in spite of 

 his strength, I shall turn him. You see, I 

 show him the but of the rod, and his force is 

 counterpoised by a very long lever. 



Hal. — You do well. But he has made a 

 violent spring, and, I fear, is off. 



PoiET. — He is ! — but not, I think, by any 

 fault of mine : he has carried off something. 



Hal. — You played that fish so well, that 

 I am angry at his loss : either the hook, link, 

 or line, failed you. 



PoiET, — It is the hook, which you see is 

 broken, and not merely at the barb, but like- 

 wise in the shank. What a fool I was, ever 

 to use one of these London or Birmingham 



made hooks. 



Hal. — The thing has happened to me 



often. I now never use any hooks for salmon 



fishing, except those which I am sure have 



been made by O'Shaughnessy, of Limerick; 



for even those made in Dublin, though they 



